1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to eyewear, particularly to a system for releasably affixing a plurality of charms to modified eyewear.
2. Background of the Invention
Many women in today's society enjoy the individuality and expression that is brought about through the use of small charms, commonly draped or fastened about the wrist, ankle, neck, or other appendage of a person to accessorize that person's appearance. One popular example of such an accessory is the bracelet with customizable links. One drawback to the bracelets is the effort that must be expended when the wearer desires to customize or swap out a link. In order to do so, the bracelet must be disassembled from its loop configuration, and reassembled. This can be difficult because as the bracelet is normally worn on a person's wrist, it is generally necessary for the person wearing it to be able to release or open the closing or locking mechanism with one hand. There is no simple way to instantly swap just one charm for another. The popularity of charm bracelets has been decreasing in recent years, due to the above, due to the fact that bracelets may snag or become caught in furniture, machinery etc., and simply due to changing tastes.
Such bracelets were popular for the same reason that other customizable jewelry systems have been popular. That is, because they allowed the wearers to individually express themselves. Because of this, a large market for custom charms has developed. Paralleling the popularity of charms, women who buy reading glasses often prefer to own multiple pairs of glasses in many colors and styles such that the glasses can better accessorize their clothes.
Dating back to 1957, U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,561 to Vaughn discloses an “earring with hook for removably attaching a pendant ornament”. The earring includes a hook and a retaining plate, the lower portion of which is biased by a spring 40 toward the hook to retain an ornament on the hook. While pendants may be interchangeably attached to the Vaughn earring, the structure includes a number of generally delicate, fragile and even potentially dangerous parts, such as a hook, retaining plate and spring. These parts project forwardly 45 from the ear of the wearer and may inadvertently snag various objects or become entangled with the wearer's hair. In addition to being fragile, these parts detract from the appearance of the earring while increasing its cost of manufacture and risk of injury to the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,852 to Waldron, discloses an earring device for suspending a variety of interchangeable charms or the like therefrom. The earring comprises a loop member with mechanisms for attachment to an ear and a generally narrow eyelet adapted for allowing a link of a charm to be pulled therethrough to attach or detach the charm to the earring.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,503, to Golove, discloses an item of jewelry including a finger ring having a removable setting and a charm coupled to a short chain, which is captured on the ring by the setting. Generally, all interchangeable charm systems have been based on interchangeably changing out charms that are attached to jewelry. Individuals who would prefer to keep their jewelry separate from their the charms will find a lack of options. For instance, no system exists to releasably attach a variety of interchangeable charms to a single pair of glasses.
It is thus an objective of the present invention to provide a magnetic charm system adapted for releasably and interchangeably attaching and securing a variety of charms to a pair of glasses such that the plane of the backside of the charm is flush against a smooth surface of the glasses.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a customized charm system that allows the wearer to express herself individually through a charm that does not interfere with the workplace or other activities.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a charm for a wearer that is positioned in a fixed relative location so as not to become caught or snagged on furniture, machinery, etc.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an interchangeable charm system for use with reading glasses, sun glasses, prescription glasses, as well as a means for modifying any glasses for use with the system.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide the above described interchangeable charm system wherein said charms are of simple and durable construction yet aesthetically pleasing.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages be within the scope of the present invention.